Yakima County Jobless Rate Again Better Than State
August 21, 2009 by Dave McFadden
Yakima County’s unemployment rate continued to be lower than the state rate for the third consecutive month. About 9,470 residents were without jobs last month. That translated into a local unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. The state rate, not seasonally adjusted, was 8.8 percent. The state also reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.1 percent.
This is the first time Yakima County has had a lower unemployment rate than the state for the month of July since 1990, when Employment Security began keeping comparable records. Two local sectors grew jobs over the past month. Education and health services added 200 jobs, while wholesale trade gained 100.
According to New Vision’s Business Development Director Tammy Everts, “I meet with several companies each month as part of our business retention efforts and a number of these firms are doing well or at least seeing signs of economic improvement. Our region seems to be doing better compared to other areas because our agricultural sector is relatively stable and diverse.”
Attributed, in part, to the Yakima Herald-Republic
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